real estate agents: How Do You Answer #WhatWereYouThinking?
- 06/24/14 01:02 AM
Some of you might be disappointed that I am not about to disclose the specifics about what set off my rant this morning, but I didn't do it because it serves no purpose. It would be singing to the choir to other real estate agents and it would be frightening news for our clients, and none of that is productive, so the actual circumstance that inspired me to create the blog I wrote is not important, but its message is. You can read more in my personal blog today about What Were You Thinking?

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real estate agents: Should You Only Work With People You Like in Sacramento Real Estate?
- 06/03/14 09:43 AM
Asking questions is one of the ways I find out what's bothering a person if it seems like a particular client is turning into an unlikeable person, from an otherwise likeable person. I know there are real estate agents who say you don't have to like the clients you work with, but I think you do. And one of the ways to find out what's eating at them is to ask questions until you get an answer. Anybody can write off another person and say they are a turd so to heck with them. But what about those people who are (10 comments)

real estate agents: What We Have Here is a Failure to Communicate
- 05/27/14 12:16 PM
Remember that Cool Hand Luke movie? What we have here is a failure to communicate. Have you ever run across a person who, regardless of what you say, takes it the wrong way or builds it into a federal case against you? Every so often, I meet one of those, but it's not a regular thing, thank goodness. In fact, I can't recall the last time I had such a difficult time trying to communicate with another agent. Agents who are edgy and testy for no reason are such an enigma to me because I don't know what to say. You (6 comments)

real estate agents: The Homeless Person Syndrome and Sacramento Real Estate
- 05/27/14 02:23 AM
I think they call it they call it the Homeless Person Syndrome when real estate agents worry that the market could drop out of the market and they'd end up living under a bridge in a cardboard box. Since I have basically done that in my life, back in the free-wheelin' '60s, I'm not worried about much. Anything else is a step up over sleeping in your car or in the park. Besides, as time moves on, it becomes pretty clear to a person that the market is not about to fall apart and a Sacramento real estate agent is likely (7 comments)

real estate agents: Do You Feel Guilty if You Love Your Job as a Real Estate Agent?
- 04/07/14 11:49 AM
How did we get to such a place in time where so many people hate their jobs? I rarely run into people who tell me how much they like their jobs anymore, unless maybe they are a real estate agent, and even then sometimes they are somehow forced to quantify the love they feel for their job by explaining how they don't love their job more than they love their husband or their children or their mother. This is absurd. Who needs to explain that, and why do women feel the need to explain? Why is there this big push to (6 comments)

real estate agents: Watch Those Four-Letter Words
- 08/26/13 04:23 AM
Communicating with people, whether friend or stranger, requires a certain type of vocabulary. It's true especially in professional situations. I would no sooner call my doctor and ask her to get me a F-ing appointment or she'll be #%@#* than I would throw a Linda Blair at an office meeting. It's not that I'm a stranger to this type of language and, hey, drop a hammer on my foot, and you'll hear words you wished you hadn't, but it's no way to talk to another real estate agent. Read more in my personal blog today on my business website about F-Bombs (7 comments)

real estate agents: The First Rule to Talking on Your Cell Phone About Business
- 05/10/12 11:59 PM
I do what I can to stop phone calls from coming to my phone. It's not that I don't want to talk to people, it's that I prefer to reserve time for phone conversations with people who are part of my business plan. This imaginary business plan that I don't really have. The one that says I should talk to people who will produce income for my business. This plan that is in my head. If you're not part of that plan, then do not call me, or at least don't call me during the week and during business hours. Somebody (61 comments)

real estate agents: Is That a Client in Your Pocket or Are You Just Happy to See Me?
- 12/12/11 02:06 AM
Because of my volume of Sacramento short sale listings, I talk to a lot of real estate agents in Sacramento. I also get a huge number of offers every month. I see stuff that you would not believe, and there is no sense talking about it because it's true in any profession. You've got winners and losers. Good and bad. You don't want to think about that when it involves hundreds of thousands of dollars, much less a sharp knife and a medical license, but not everybody is good at what they do just because they do it. You'd like to (9 comments)

real estate agents: What Makes a Real Estate Agent a Professional?
- 11/28/11 03:24 AM
There are some jobs that I will never have. Yup, it's time that I admit it. When you reach a certain age, you come to the terms with that fact. It is the inevitable. For example, I will never be a bandleader for the Jimmy Fallon show, regardless of how much fun that has been lately and how jealous I might be of that guy. I will also never be a Hot Kush or Ganja Juice Girl. That's got to be pretty much the equivalent of participating in a wet t-shirt contest but the pay / prizes are probably much better. (11 comments)

real estate agents: Who Enjoys Being Sold a Product?
- 03/18/11 03:52 AM
I'm going to say right upfront here, do NOT send me hate mail. Because I am about to say that there are parallels between certain types of sales people, say, for example, a car salesperson and a real estate salesperson. I've heard it said that the easiest person to sell to in the universe is another salesperson, but I think that's only the dumb ones. The thing is nobody wants to be sold. It's irritating. And the only people who don't find it irritating are those who can't figure out that they are being sold. The parallel between a car salesperson (8 comments)

real estate agents: I Want To Sell My House and You to Work For Free
- 12/05/10 01:34 AM
Obviously, the author of this finely crafted piece of humor is a real estate agent. ABCbellefson is a genius. ABC has captured the very essence of selling real estate. From the initial encounter to the closing. If you are a home buyer or home seller who thinks these thoughts don't run through the heads of every real estate agent on the face of this planet, then you just might be . . . oh, I can't repeat the words that are used in this video. Turn down the volume if there are children or others nearby who are sensitive to (13 comments)

real estate agents: Is it Safe to Put a Lockbox on Your Home?
- 05/27/10 03:01 AM
I suspect I will get flack for this, but I'm gonna say it anyway. Is it too much to expect agents to read? Is that an unrealistic expectation? The two most often overlooked and information-worthy items in a MLS listing are the showing instructions and the confidential agent remarks. Yet, I know that some agents seem to skim through MLS listings without reading them. Although I attach documents to most of my listings -- documents that generally provide crucial information to a buyer's agent -- I don't get my knickers in a twist if agents don't open them. In a recent (14 comments)

real estate agents: Is it a RESPA Violation When Sellers Pay For and Request a Title Company?
- 05/17/10 03:07 AM
I considered making this a "members only" post but decided instead to throw it out there to stimulate discussion. All real estate agents are or should be familiar with RESPA. It's been around since 1974. But new sections are added all the time. Section 9 says: "RESPA prohibits a seller from requiring the home buyer to use a particular title insurance company, either directly or indirectly, as a condition of sale. Buyers may sue a seller who violates this provision for an amount equal to three times all charges made for the title insurance." It's obvious that Section 9 was created (14 comments)

real estate agents: Real Estate Agent Strips His Own Foreclosure Home, Sells Fixtures on Craigslist
- 05/04/09 03:16 AM
For my own amusement, I sometimes scan newspaper articles sent from my Google alerts. Especially when a strange story catches my eye. What I find even more interesting than the story, sometimes, are all the comments from online readers. If you generally skip reading the comments -- and I wouldn't blame you if you did -- you're missing a collection of thought stranger than fiction. A part-time real estate agent in Arizona was nabbed by the FBI for mortgage fraud. His name is Kailash Bhatt. He also worked for the state and as an instructor at University of Phoenix. When the (65 comments)

real estate agents: How Quickly Should a Real Estate Agent Respond to a Potential Client?
- 01/06/09 12:55 AM
Years ago, when I was buying a home in Land Park, Sacramento, and in the process of moving from Minneapolis, I had hired a real estate agent who rarely communicated with me. I would email her and she would not respond. I would leave her voice mails and she would not return my phone calls. Being several thousand miles away and trying to close a real estate deal was stressful enough, but working with an agent whose communication skills were sorely lacking was even more frustrating. It's not the way I choose to do business. You learn a lot when you're (42 comments)

real estate agents: After a Request for Repair Has Been Completed, Should the Buyer Ask for a Reinspection?
- 12/20/08 01:47 PM
How a home buyer handles a Request for Repair depends on what type of repairs are needed. For example, if the water heater needs to be replaced, a buyer might specify a brand of water heater and ask that it be installed with a permit, if a permit is required. However, if the repair is structural, a buyer may be better off asking for a closing cost credit and hiring his or her own contractor. The reasoning is sellers will often choose to pay as little as possible to fix a problem when the money is coming out of the seller's (39 comments)

real estate agents: Almost Everything You Want to Know is Contained in the Purchase Contract
- 11/29/08 02:15 AM
I'd say that 9 out of 10 questions received by Lyon Real Estate's lawyer could be answered by reading the purchase contract. Yet, very few real estate agents have ever read the purchase contract. They know which blanks to fill in (most of them, anyway), but I'm betting 9 out of 10 agents couldn't recite much less explain pertinent paragraphs in the contract. Yet, they ask buyers to sign purchase contracts. Does that make sense to you? The first thing I typically do when I meet with new buyers is hand them our 10-page C.A.R. California Residential Purchase Agreement and Joint (14 comments)

real estate agents: Using Sound Judgment is Different From Being Judgmental, Especially When Dealing with Buyers
- 10/24/08 11:19 PM
I don't know about you, but it's not always easy to figure out which flowers are ready to be deadheaded and which are babies. In the past, I've felt pangs of guilt after I've snapped off a flower head believing it was dead, only to discover after the flower was in my hand that it was a new baby trying to emerge from its bud, and I had snatched away its life. Many new flowers resemble those that are spent. It's hard to tell the difference. It's better to let them be for a while to see if they open (51 comments)

real estate agents: Sometimes Clients Can Forget You're a Real Estate Agent
- 10/14/08 03:13 AM
Yesterday, being Columbus Day, meant there was no mail, agents couldn't call the banks to follow up on short sales and many workers got the day off. But not title and escrow companies. I met clients at my office to walk them over to the title company for signing loan documents. These buyers had been looking for a long time to find their dream home in Midtown Sacramento and were finally going to closing on a home on which they battled multiple offers and won a Request for Repair. It had been a long road. We met in the lobby of (20 comments)

real estate agents: How Real Estate Agents Spend Their Time on the Computer
- 09/23/08 06:57 AM
In case you were wondering what real estate agents really do on the computer, I'd like to introduce you to my new chart. Oh, sure, you say, all our time is spent searching for properties in MLS, writing blogs, reading real estate articles, writing purchase contracts and taking listings, but I have news for you.

Broker-Associate at Lyon Real Estate, midtown Sacramento office. Selling since 1974. Homebuying expert at About.com. Best short sale agent in Sacramento. Elizabeth sells homes from Galt to Lincoln.
Author Bio: Elizabeth Weintraub is a Sacramento real estate broker, author, home buying expert for About.com, a Land Park resident, who specializes not only in older, classic homes in Land Park, Curtis Park, Midtown and East Sacramento but sells extensively from Elk Grove to Lincoln. Weintraub is prominently known as the #1 Sacramento Short Sale agent throughout the Sacramento four-county area. Call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916.233.6759. Put 40 years of real estate experience to work for you.
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